Writing The Woman Who Named God was an essential part of my journey toward discovering my own faith. I needed a better understanding of
the complexities of my heritage and my family’s divided legacies.
I come from a long line of Jews who were ambivalent about being Jewish. My grandparents changed their Jewish sounding names.
My father converted to Christianity when he was fifteen. Ten years later, he married my Episcopalian mother. I was raised as
a Christian with no knowledge of my Jewish ancestry. Instead, I went to church each Sunday and was confirmed as an Episcopalian.
One day, when I was twelve, my older sister told me that our father was born Jewish and I was surprised. How could Dad be Jewish?
How could I have been unaware of his heritage? I was determined to find out more about what my father had discarded. Why had he
rejected Judaism? I studied. I learned Hebrew. I had some inspirational teachers along the way. Elie Wiesel took me under his wing.
He told me I was on a journey of "teshuva,"—of return. He was right.
I began to fall in love with Judaism—its emphasis on study and debate, ritual and practice. I wanted to convert, but
did not want to hurt my family. I loved Christianity and the rituals of the church. For many years I felt divided and it was not
until I was in my thirties that I finally took the big step. One day, in Torah study, we came to a word I didn't know. Abraham was vayerah.
"What does vayerah mean?" I asked. "Ah," the rabbi said, "it means depressed, divided." Abraham—divided, depressed? That's how I felt.
Suddenly, I realized that if this man could follow God, so could I.
My conversion did not end my interest in Abraham and his story. The Woman Who Named God is the result of many years of
brooding, reading, asking questions, researching and interviewing experts in the field. I immersed myself in how Abraham is
torn apart by the two women in his life, his wife Sarah and his concubine, Hagar. I discovered that Sarah is brave, beautiful, and smart.
Hagar is resourceful, courageous, and faithful. Hagar is also the only person in the Bible to name God. In Islam, she is considered the
founder of Mecca, as well as being the great-great-grandmother of Mohammed.
I don't feel divided anymore. Jewish? Christian? Muslim? As my mother says, "We are all searching for the same God. We are just on different paths."
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Speaking Topics
I am an experienced public speaker and have given talks at libraries, churches, synagogues, schools, colleges, historical societies, and business meetings. I would enjoy speaking on any of the following subjects. I am also open to your suggestions or requests. Please contact me about speaking for your group.
- Who is the Woman Who Named
God and why is she important?
- Why I wrote The Woman Who
Named God
- Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar:
One Family, Three Religions
- Christianity, Judaism, and Islam:
Interfaith Dialogue & Relationships
- Women and the Origins
of Monotheism
- Religion, women, and the
founding of America
- Anne Bradstreet’s pilgrimage
of faith
- Why I converted and other
conversion stories
- Poetry, storytelling, and faith
- How to write about faith
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